|
INDEX
|
|
Wizard
Folk
Arabella
Figg
A.K.A.
Mrs Figg (SS2 ff.)
Mrs. Figg is
the "mad old lady" to whose house Harry goes once a year on Dudley's birthday.
Harry hates it there. Her house smells like cabbage and Mrs. Figg always
makes him look at pictures of every cat she ever owned. JKR has stated
that she is the same person as the Arabella Figg mentioned as being part
of the "old crowd" (GF36) and that we will learn more about her in book
5 (BP). Many fans had already made that connection. So how did fans figure
out that Mrs. Figg and Arabella Figg were one and the same? Here are some
of the clues that support that idea:
-
It is stated several
times that Harry is protected when he's at the Dursley's house. Is part
of that protection a few faithful magic folk who have spent the last ten
or eleven years living as Muggles near Privet Drive in order to watch over
Harry? Mrs. Figg lives just two streets away.
-
When Harry is
locked in his cupboard for his longest punishment ever, he comes out to
discover that Dudley had "knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet
Drive on her crutches." But Mrs. Figg lives two streets away. What wasshe
doing on Privet Drive on crutches, with a broken leg? Checking on
Harry? After all, he'd just vanished for weeks and she was bound to start
wondering where he'd been. But the Dursleys tried to hide Harry from the
world, didn't they? So would she expect to see Harry outside? Yep, because
he spent as much time as he could outside of the house to avoid Dudley
and his gang. She would expect to be able to see Harry every single day,
since the mean boys came over every day.
-
How did she break
her leg? What battles with evil took place outside of Harry's sight, maybe
just a few streets away? She supposedly fell over one of her cats and subsequently
wasn't as fond of them as she used to be. Did one of them turn out to be
an enemy?
-
Speaking of the
cats, were they perhaps acting as spies for her? Okay, there isn't much
evidence of that, except maybe for the fact that he looks out of the window
and as far as Harry can see through the darkness, there isn't a living
creature in sight, "not even a cat." (GF2) Is that unusual? Would he often
see cats skulking about Privet Drive at night, so often that when he doesn't
see one, it strikes him as slightly unusual?
-
Arthur Weasley
borrows a magic tent for them from Perkins, an "old warlock" who works
with him at the Ministry. To Harry's surprise, it's furnished in exactly
the same sort of style as Mrs. Figg's house; it even smelled strongly of
cats. Is this style sort of the standard pseudo-Muggle style used for any
imitation Muggle dwelling? And therefore, was Mrs. Figg's house also a
wizard imitation of a Muggle house?
-
Lastly, think
about Harry's sudden escape from Privet Drive after "blowing up" Aunt Marge.
He ends up, according to PA, several streets away, on Magnolia Crescent.
Remember that Mrs. Figg lives two streets away. Could it be that he ended
up at the edge of his "safe zone"? Sirius was there, watching him...had
Sirius been stopped at the edge coming in? And it was a few seconds
later that the Knight Bus appeared out of nowhere, supposedly because Harry
held up his wand. Okay, he did, that's true, but the Knight Bus is supposed
to stop for you if you hold up you wand intentionally for that purpose.
Harry did no such thing. His wand was up completely by accident. So who
really
called the Knight Bus for Harry? Was it Mrs. Figg or perhaps another witch
or wizard who lived along the perimeter?
|